With a Gold Membership you get access to the database and word lists. The features are described below:
DATABASE
- Answer Search
- Type in QUIZ and get all clues that have been used for QUIZ
- Type in QUI? and first get all answers that fit that pattern (QUID, QUIP, QUIT, QUIZ, etc.). Click on any of these answers to see the clues that have been used for it
- Type in *BANANA* to see any answer that contains the word BANANA (eg TOPBANANA, BANANSPLIT)
- Use "Thematic Only" or "Non-Thematic Only" to filter your results (useful to see if a theme has been done before)
- Use "Publisher" to filter results (get QUIZ clues, but only for the New York Times)
- When a Puzzle ID is shown, click on it to see the grid of the puzzle, the thematic information, author, date and much more!
- Easily the most used feature
- Clue Search
- Most useful to solvers
- Type in the main word of a clue, plus an answer length or pattern, and get possible answers.
- Shows possible answers, along with number of hits
- Not bad, but this feature needs a bit of work
- Grid Search
- Type in thematic answer lengths and see various empty grids that accommodate those theme lengths
- Example: enter 15,15,11,11 and see pages of mall grids that have those answer lengths
- View individual grids in a larger size, print if they look promising
- Puzzle Info
- Find out historical information of puzzles, using Constructor, Publisher and Year as filters
- Shows lots of interesting information!
Try the Demo
WORD LISTS
These are lists of words that have appeared in puzzles in the database. They have been "cleansed" by removing unusable, thematic entries (letter drops, rebuses, etc.).
The "all" list contains answers for all publications. The "nyt" list contains answers from New York Times puzzles only. These word lists are typically used with software programs such as Crossword Compiler.
Using one of these lists instead of the standard Default wordlist that comes with Crossword Compiler, a puzzle grid (or portions of a grid) can be filled exponentially faster. The word lists have interesting, lively words and phrases not found in other word lists. Very useful.